My transmission lines are getting to the point of being shot. What is the best stuff to replace them with? I hate to buy all new lines from dodge, because that will cost a fortune. Is a good rubber hose rated for high pressure, and heat as good as anything, or should I go with something else? Opinions please. Id like to take care of this before it gives me problems.

Eric

 

I would go to a transmission shop and buy new lines there. I would not use rubber hoses where they had metal lines.

 

What I did was bought the steel sections from dodge and the new fittings.

going from memory, it was $190.00

Then I cut the crazy ends off the short rubber sections from the cooler where they originally attached to the steel lines. The "new" style steel lines dodge will sell you come with an end with a collar on it to be used for a hose clamp. They want to sell you a fancy clamp gizmo and the new rubber lines going to the cooler. What I did to save $$$ and keep it somewhat original was like I said earlier, Cut the ends off the old rubber sections where they connect to the steel lines.

The new steel line "barb" end is very short and fits a little loose on the old hose. So, what I did was install a very small set screw in the end of the new steel lines maybe 3/16" from the end and left it sticking out by about 1/8". now I slid the old line where I cut it over the barb end with a set screw and fastened a heavy duty stainless steel hose clamp just to the inside of the set screw.

That was 25K miles ago and they have stayed on whithout leaking a drop.


Careful with three things,

1. If you use hydralic line, remember that there is a check valve in one of the lines, fluid will drain back overnight if you elimate this.

2. I was told DC engineers designed the lines with long lengths of run and thin steel tubing to help disapate heat before and after the cooler.

3. The fittings that thread into the tranny are strait pipe thread (NPSM) NOT! Tapered pipe thread (NPT) that you will find at the hardware store. I Looked everwhere for the NPSM fittings and there tuff to find. wait till you see what dodge charges you for those little fittings, ($30 each). Beware if you use NPT, you may crack the tranny casting.


One messy job! have fun.


Oh, and another thing...



Take about 2 feet of 5/8" heater hose, slit it with a utility knife from one end to the other. Then cut it into 4-5" long pieces.

Snap the pieces over the lines anywhere they might rub together or on anything. Use cable ties to hold them on. This will save future "chaffing" headaches.


Someday I'll get set up to post pictures on here.

 

I'm glad you said something about it being straight pipe..........doing mine soon and may not have caught it.

 

I just did mine this weekend. Replaced everything in the system including the short hose sections up front. $363 OTD for all parts. One thing that bothers me though. The new line section from the tranny to the cooler has a non-removable check valve in the short rubber section. I don't like this as I think it is unnecessary & creates an unneeded restriction. I found that I can't remove the check vlv without destroying the line. In addition, the angles on the fittings aren't standard. Instead of the 37 deg. AN type fittings, Dodge uses a different angle on the male fittings eliminating the option of making up a line. Has anyone dealt with this when replacing lines? Should I just leave the check vlv in place? Also, the original line (mine's a 1996) had no check vlv in it. Thanks.

 

I think you'll find if you go "check valve less" your tranny will get a bad case of "morning sickness".

Try it and you will see what I mean.

 

Thanks for the reply. What's weird is that the OEM hose section had no check valve. In the mornings, I'd just put it in gear for about 10 seconds & she'd always pull off just fine. Again, I'm not too crazy about that restriction in the cooling circuit. I thought that valve was done away with on later mods, not the other way around, and from what I understand, I've got the latest version of the hose.

 

I am very interested in a fix for these crappy plastic fittings,does anyone have a parts list without having to go to the *******? What type of fittings are needed to adapt to the trany??

 

I dont know if this is what your looking for but i found these. http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...0002_760008_-1

 

I did a lot of research. The first problem is that the old lines have no retrofit options to the new design. The old plastic clips aren't even available, nor are the metal clips that were the fix for awhile. To complicate issues, the female pipe threads in the xmission are NPSM as opposed to NPT (although the McMasters Carr website says that "female NPSM threads will accept male NPT threads", which makes sense since McMaster sells all kinds of fittings with female NPSM threads, but nothing with a male NPSM thread.). Some people on here say that the male NPT stuff won't work on the femail NPSM threads in the xmission, but I can't confirm or dispute this. Another problem is that Dodge does not use a standard 37 degree "AN" type fitting where lines screw together. There is some kind of weird angle on the male "AN" type fittings. Soooooo, between the fear of not wanting to strip out my xmission fittings and the outlaw flare fittings that Dodge uses, I just gave up, bit the bullet and went with all factory repalcement upgrades. Everything from a local dealer was $363 OTD. The only thing that I still don't like about the new setup (other than the price) is that with the new lines, I now have a non-removable check valve (restriction) in the pressure line going from the xmission to the cooler and the OEM line had no valve.

 

Oh BTW, the $363 OTD price is AFTER the 20% discount that the guy at the parts counter let me have since I was buying everything from them. Speedway Dodge in Griffin, GA. The other dealerships in the area had none of the stuff in stock and had a very hard time trying to look the parts up. The list that's on another site (don't know if I can mention it here) is helpful, but I think some of the parts on that list have been superseded. I think that the particular dealership that I mentioned sort of specializes in supplying these lines, because to my amazement, not only were they very familiar with my needs, they had everything in stock.

 

Wow man thats rediculous! There has to be some way to upgrade these fittings without paying the Kings ransom that they want for retrofit.....

 

There are threads on here about using hydraulic lines as a replacement. Some don't like the idea but I think it looks like a solid and cheap alternative. Do search see if you can find the pics,my favorite is with the heat exchanger/cooler moved up under the radiator. No hose clamps all threaded connections. Use the reusable type ends and future fixes are very cheap. Junk the check valve, my tranny does'nt miss it at all.

 

If your Handy with a McMaster Carr book you can get the screw together hose's and fittings .
I did mine with out a check valve ..Never had a proiblem ... I even did a inline spin on filter for around 200 bucks .
Thanks

greg

 

Hey Greg I was thinking that would be a way to go but i'm not sure what is needed in the way of fittings,do you happen to have the numbers for those fittings? I can't afford to have my truck down for any length of time being that it is my Daily Driver.........